This morning, I am in a super-grateful daze for the NHS (National Health Service in the UK).
Yesterday, I was fluey. Today, I coughed up bright-red blood.
Oh.
I suspected the new Omicrom variant was doing the rounds in my body.
Oh, again.
My parents test themselves regularly, so they had a couple of test kits at home. It took three, rather worrying, minutes, to confirm that I did not have COVID.
Had I been at home in Nairobi, the freaking out time would have been significantly higher.
So, today, I am grateful for NHS, I am grateful for the systems in place in the UK to help prevent and monitor the spread of COVID, and I am grateful that I was negative.
And the blood? Maybe a chest infection, but also the fact that must have sneezed at least five hundred times in the last 24 hours. I expect I have just have burst blood vessel somewhere. I will be fine. I am already fine.
And that is a relief.
I say this to patients all the time, that our health is probably the single most important thing in our life – and it is something that even I, clearly, take for granted.
This little reminder today was exactly what I needed.
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This was written two weeks ago, and am back to 100% health as this goes out to press.
